Amazon, UA, Scott Stuber In Final Negotiations To Land ‘Highlander’ Rights; Henry Cavill To Star With Chad Stahelski Directing

EXCLUSIVE: As they say in the Highlander franchise, “There can be only one,” and in the case of the latest reimagining’s new home, that studio is Amazon MGM Studios’ United Artists. Sources tell Deadline that Amazon MGM Studios’ United Artists and Scott Stuber are in final negotiations to secure the rights to remake a new version of Highlander,  based on the iconic 1980s cult classic. The film will star Henry Cavill with John Wick director Chad Stahelski helming and will be released in theaters. Michael Finch (John Wick: Chapter 4) is penning the screenplay.

UA’s Stuber and Nick Nesbitt will produce alongside Neal H. Moritz and 87Eleven Entertainment, Stahelski’s production banner. UA has secured full rights to the franchise, which Lionsgate developed, with potential to also develop a new series. Sources close to the situation say at the end of the day, Stahelski’s vision for the film fit better into the amazon model but add its a big win for all parties.

The original Highlander (1986), starring Christopher Lambert and Sean Connery, portrays the climax of an ancient battle between immortal warriors, unfolding through interwoven past and present-day storylines. After steadily gaining wider popularity upon its release, the film spawned multiple sequels, a beloved TV series, and an enduring fanbase. From director Russell Mulcahy, the film was produced by Peter S. Davis and William N. Panzer. 

The project fit for UA and Stuber, who is no stranger to taking on epic tentpoles and turning them into hits following his days as a producer and head of film at Netflix. After leaving Netflix in 2024, Stuber had several options but chose to come to Amazon to help relaunch United Artists and a film like Highlander is the perfect fit for the upcoming slate.

It’s a reunion at Amazon MGM studios for Cavill, who is headlining Rawson Marshall Thurber’s Voltron feature adaptation of the popular anime series. Cavill is also developing the Warhammer 40,000 franchise across all Amazon MGM Studios productions.

Stuber is currently working on several films with United Artists, including Kill Your Darlings, based on bestselling author Peter Swanson’s forthcoming novel and starring Julia Robert, and a film from Edward Berger based on the forthcoming memoir from Evan Gershkovich, the reporter for The Wall Street Journal who was imprisoned in Russia for more than a year. Other upcoming projects for Stuber include Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein for Netflix, Deliver Me From Nowhere, the Scott Cooper-directed drama that stars The Bear‘s Jeremy Allen White as Bruce Springsteen as the iconic singer hit an existential crossroads and turned it into the seminal album Nebraska, for 20th Century Studios and Disney, and Panic Carefully, Sam Esmail’s upcoming thriller starring Julia Roberts for Warner Brothers.

Cavill is represented by WME and Sloane, Offer, Weber & Dern. Stahelski is represented by WME and Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole. Finch is represented by Verve Talent and Literary Agency and Kleinberg Lange Cuddy & Carlo.